Thursday, February 4, 2010

MacGruber May Get Sued

AMC's Script to Screen blog is reporting that MacGruber may be getting sued. Now, if your like me you probably never even heard of MacGruber. Which I didn't before seeing the above trailer a few weeks ago. So just what is MacGruber? Well, its actually a parody of the 80s TV series MacGyver.

MacGyver, for those that don’t know, was a very popular TV show in the 80s that followed the exploits of secret agent Angus MacGyver. What made MacGyver cool was the fact that Angus was always able to build inventions out of common everyday items that he would find lying around. Its probably due to this coolness factor, that the MacGyver character was chosen to be parodied on SNL in the first place. Its just unfortunately that not everyone is laughing.

Apparently, the creator of MacGyver (Lee David Zlotoff) is looking to sue the guys behind the MacGruber film. Whether this lawsuit will be successful is uncertain. As pointed out in the Script to Screen post, copyright law does allow parody, but normally only in short snippets. The fact that MacGruber is a feature film, could force the studio to seek a settlement with the Zlotoff, especially if the suit isn’t immediately dismissed.

Its kind of disappointing to see studios pull the lawsuit card especially when everyone in their right mind knows that this is not a MacGyver film. But I do understand a business minded individual wanting an easy paycheque.

In any case, lets just hope this all gets cleared up before the release of MacGruber.